NORANDINO – Chocolate from Peru
NORANDINO, Grand Nativo cocoa farming
Hidden for more than a century, GRAND NATIVO cocoa was rediscovered in 2008 in the small cocoa fields of Piura in northern Peru. With the support of the NORANDINO cooperative, small farmers in the region identified the best cocoa trees and reintroduced this ancient variety of cocoa.
The NORANDINO cooperativeis comprised of 6,000 families of farmers and producers. Set up in 1995, it exports high-quality cocoa to countries all over the world.
Producers in the cooperative farm small plots of land of less than 1 hectare. Farmers are organised into associations called primary cooperatives to promote good farming practices and the direct sale of their cocoa beans.
Name: NORANDINO – Grand Nativo
Region: Piura
Country: Peru
Organisation: Cooperative with 6,000 families of farmers and producers
Variety: Criollo and Trinitario
Environmental action: preservation of the natural environment
Strict quality control
Harvesting and post-harvest processing are standardised. On small farms, cocoa is only harvested when the cocoa pods are completely ripe. The beans are then extracted and the wet cocoa is quickly transported to the NORANDINO fermentation facility.
A selection process is carried out in the collection centres where impurities and damaged or smaller beans are removed. The cocoa beans are then sent to the NORANDINO processing plant for further inspection before export.